


Belong to me

by SacredMoon



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Almyra has strange laws, Claude lost an important fight, English is not my native language, F/M, Falling In Love, Forced Marriage, Mutual Pining, My First Fanfic, Post game no S support, The Professor and her dearest deer go on a rescue mission, rating may change as the story proceed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-12-22 16:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21079901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SacredMoon/pseuds/SacredMoon
Summary: I won't be with you at your coronation ceremony, but don't forget that all the other deer will be there for you. And I do promise you that I will come back as soon as possible. After all, I can't leave my "deer" Teach feeling lonely, now can I?-Claude ends up loosing a very important fight, a fight that changes his whole life. He is to be married to a woman he can't stand and there is no way out! Or... is there? If Byleth and the other deer have a say in it, there certainly will be a way.





	1. All things come to an end

**Author's Note:**

> This little idea has been on my mind for almost two month now, and even though I am pretty unsure of myself, since it's my first Fanfic and I am not a native speaker, I decided to give it a try. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the read and would really appreciate some feedback, be it criticism or suggestions, anything is more then welcome :)

Cold rain began to fall incessantly on the blood-stained, gleaming red earth and washed away the first traces of the fight which had been taking place less than three hours ago. 

Nemesis and those who slither in the dark had vanished, their undead bodies dissolved and blown away by a strong wind that had set in shortly after the battle, as if the world itself wanted to free itself as soon as possible from the traces left from all those brutal fights. Trying its best to quickly forget the war that had injured it so badly for almost six years.

Claude sighed softly. Now that they had finally won and a new dawn was rising, it was time for him to act. The faster he would return to his homeland to begin his work to fulfill his dream the better, but still... it would cost him much more than he was willing to admit. Goodbyes just weren't easy for him. 

Slowly his eyes wandered over the other former golden deer, his companions, those who had fought by his side for so long. All of them had suffered more or less serious injuries but the only thing that would remain over time would be countless scars. Scars that would always remind them of how hard they fought to finally bring peace to this land. 

They would always let them remember the values of each life. So many had fallen during the war, so many people they knew, old classmates, some of them they even had considered friends... they would never be forgotten. He just hoped that the memories of this terrible and senseless war wouldn't haunt any of them in their sleep. 

Light green eyes found his gaze and a tiny smile appeared on the lips of his former professor. Still an unusual sight. His dear friend, trusted ally, his Teach, as he still liked to call her every now and then teasingly. 

Smiling back, he remembered that she had never said anything against that nickname, at least not when he addressed her by that name. Hilda had once told him with a big grin plastered on her face that he probably had the sole monopoly on this nickname. It seems that when Sylvain once called the professor by that name she had only stared at him and reminded him with her natural stoic face, and a pretty cold aura, that it was “ Professor” or “Teacher”. He was still wondering why and yet...

“Claude”? He jerked up from his thoughts and his smile grew a little bigger as he stared in Byleths eyes who had joined him without him noticing. She would always be the only one to be even able to do so. It really wasn't easy to sneak up on him.

“What's up Teach?” he asked her and folded his hands behind his head. Just like old times.

“As much as I can understand that everyone is exhausted from the battle and would like to rest...” She sighed quietly. “ I still have to insist that we talk. We have to discuss how to go on from here and Seteth has suggested a meeting. I would like you to join in as well, Claude,” Byleth said with her usual neutral facial expression, but her voice betrayed her. She was obviously exhausted and tired and injured, to Claudes shock. One side of her face was adorned by a seemingly deep cut that was still bleeding.

“ Heh, Teach. You really don't set a very good example by running around with an apparently open wound. Or is it to awkward for you to admit that you got hurt?” He asked with a frown, but he couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips when she pouted at him. Even though, the smile never reached his eyes. He wasn't exactly happy about the fact that she was so unconcerned and carefree when it came down to her own body.

Byleth sighted deeply and stretched, shocking her head slightly as she turned to walk away. “ There are many wounds more important than this little scratch. Hildas shoulder was pierced by a spear, Ignatz' leg was hit by a poisoned arrow and,” she hesitated briefly, an almost sad smile surrounding her lips. “ I am no longer your Teacher, you know? You can stop calling me Teach. On second thought, if it all is going according to your plan it would soon be 'your Majesty', so I might prefer ´Teach´ after all since all of my little deer don't want to call me by my name for some reason,” she ended with false cheerfulness in her voice.

That sat in silence for a moment. Claude was at a loss for words, his silver tongue failing him once again. Shaking his head in defeat, Claude stood up and followed his friend who had saved his life so many times and who also happened to be the only person on this world he would give in to so easily. Because yes, he was stubborn. But she was on a completely different level. 

The meeting began and just didn't want to came to an end. Even after hours and hours of talking and explaining, new nobles flooded their tent, all of them wanting to say something about the matter at hand. 

Things like “ A former mercenary as the Queen of Fodlan?!” or “ But she is not of rank, what about noble blood?!” Seteth smashed every single throw-in with his cool logic and with his strong conviction that a woman who had been found worthy by Rhea to be her successor should also satisfy the rest of the land. 

Byleth would be burdened with being the Archbishop until she found someone worthy of this role and being the Queen of a new and hopefully peaceful empire. In the end everyone finally agreed and Byleth, who had been sitting there stone faced and unmoving, looking at them with empty eyes, was to be crowned tomorrow. 

When he was finally allowed to leave the tent the first signs of a coming dusk was already visible in the sky. He had to leave, maybe even without saying goodbye to anyone. 

But no, he couldn't make it this easy for him. After all, panic would break out if the leader of the Alliance just disappeared, so he talked to Seteth and informed him about his progress before he decided to also talk to Lorenz. After all, despite his flaws, Lorenz was a man who shared his ideals. 

To his surprise, he found himself across form a sleeping Hilda who was cuddling close to Lorenz when he entered the mans tent. Lorenz had his eyes closed too, but just as he thought that it wouldn't be fair to wake them now, even thought under normal circumstances he wouldn't let the chance to tease them both mercilessly slip, the lilac haired man raises his voice. 

Ah, so he was awake after all. They talked quietly to try and not wake Hilda. With the parting words that he would rely on him in his absence Claude made his way out off the camp and approached his beloved white wyvern. The small dragon greeted him joyfully and bumped her nose against his cheek. A true smile found its way to his face as he began to cuddle her until...

“Claude?” Of course, it was his dear Teach. The goddess must really like the idea of messing with him. At the thought of having to say goodbye to that woman, his stomach turned inexplicably and he frowned. 

“What's up Teach?”, he asked casually but then he remembered their conversation from the morning and a smile crept back on his face. “ Ah, I'm having a little Déjà-vu here. Looks like we had that same start of a conversation only a few hours ago.”

She looked at him with no emotion showing on her face as her eyes starred daggers at his face. “ To true...”, she mumbled and sighed deeply. “ What are you up to, Claude? You certainly wouldn't just talk to Seteh on a whim, would you?”

His eyes widened only for a split second. Damn it! Had she be watching him from afar? Never mind that... he would just need to stay calm about this. He put one of his Arms on his hips and smirked at her. “ Well Teach, I am honored. I really must mean much to you if you go out of your way to spy on me, right?” He meant that comment to be funny, and a little bit teasing, but he was taken by surprise as a slight redness became visible on his former teachers face. 

“ Don't you get your hopes up,boy. “, she said that last word in a tone that would make Judith proud. “You mean much to me, of course you do, but neither more nor less then the others...”, she murmured in response and closed her eyes for a moment, willing the heat that she felt on her checks to go away. Therefore she missed the quick sadness and disappointment that passed his face. 

“ If I am not completely mistaken you are about to leave, aren't you?”, her eyes wandered over the saddle next to his wyvern, the packed bag next to his feet and the thick cape that adorned his shoulders. 

Claude sighted sadly and braved himself for a rush of questions he didn't want to answer. He should have just flown of as soon as possible without cuddling with his little girl.

“ Tell me why! I... I mean, how can you leave m... us alone? Especially at a time like this? Just now when this war had finally come to an end an we could start to rebuild, no, must start to rebuild, where we could use every single hand available you are just deciding to go?! Now that I am to be the new Queen of a united Fodlan, now that I must act as a Symbol for all of them...” , she took a deep breath and tried to steady her voice, but when she spoke again it still trembled. 

“I... I can't do this Claude. Not so... Not... without you!” There were no tears on her pale face, but the sparkle in her normally radiant eyes had vanished. Apart from the different color, they looked just as empty and dead as they did all those years ago when he had first met her. 

For the first time since he could remember he was no longer thinking straight. His body just moved without his consent an stepped forward to press Byleth to his chest with one arm. He would have taken both and hugged her for real, but his left arm had been pretty badly injured in that last fight. 

He felt her tense noticeably against his body, but he did not let go of her. Slowly and a little bit unsure of himself, he bent over to her ear. He owned her an answer after all. 

“ I am so sorry, my friend. So so sorry. Truly. But I have to go. There is something really important to be done in my homeland, and I am the only one that can do it. You know, I have some insignificant relations to the royal house of Almyra and I am prepared to stand completely on my own again, but if I don't take this small chance nothing will ever change for the better. If I don't try to turn my dream into a reality now, there likely won't be a second chance.” 

“And you-”, he said with a gentleness that surprised her a little before slowly taking a step back so he could look at her again with his trademark wink “- will master everything. Every hurdle that may be on your way, you will overcome. After all, you are my Teach! And Teach is able to overcome everything. I mean, who else with a pretty sharp blade and more secrets than anyone else I know has ever managed to win my complete trust if not you?” At this a little smile appeared on Byleths face. 

“I won't be with you at your coronation ceremony, but don't forget that all the other deer will be there for you. And I do promise you that I will come back as soon as possible. After all, I can't leave my deer Teach feeling lonely, now can I? I mean, you know as well as I do that I couldn't live without my little Teach anyways.” He ended with a grin and was pretty happy when he noticed that she had finally relaxed into his lose embrace. 

And a small smile surrounded her soft lips. It was than that he realized what exactly he was doing. He shouldn't hug her like that, really! It wasn't proper. He coughed slightly and let go of her. Then, without another word or look, he saddled his wyvern, climbed on her back an flew away quietly into the approaching night. 

Had he turned his head around one last time, he would have seen Byleth looking irritated at her hand that she had unconsciously placed at her chin, just to realize that it was wet. She swept it over her face just to realize that she was crying. 

If Sothis had been with her still, she would have whispered something along the lines of “ Stupid girl...”


	2. Master of disaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left me a kudo or even took the time to leave me a comment. That's a real motivation for me :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy the read of this chapter.

She had not expected that. Of course, it had been clear to her that it wouldn't be an easy task to rebuild everything after all the damage that had been done. She even had expected that there would be some people to rebel against all the changes she was about to make, but this...?

Staggering backwards, she ducked a rough axe that was aimed at her head. With a battle cry she lunged her sword of the creator forward into the body of a magician that had tried to sneak up on her from behind before she swung it towards the axewielding opponent in front of her with all her might. She gasped and swayed again. Slowly she was reaching the limit of her powers, leaving her feeling kind of weak on her knees. 

It just seemed like there wouldn't be an end at all. She had killed so many of her attackers but it only took the blink of an eye for three or more opponents to take the place of the defeated one.

Her army wasn't in a better state either. Although the losses were still few, only because most of the enemies concentrated on herself, it was quite clear that it didn't look good for them. They where simply outmatched in size and power. 

The former imperial soldiers, the traitors from the former Kingdom and the Alliance, the rebels from the ranks of the knights of Seiros and those who slithered in the dark... there were so many of them! Far too many! Derdriu would fall if things went on like this.

She had sent out the word to the ruling people of their neighboring lands that they were in dire need of help, but many of them had their own problems to tend to. She had received an answer from Petra only a few days ago that she and her country were more then sorry that they couldn't sent any troops. She knew that even if they had wanted to help them out, they would have never arrived in time. And the Almyran King hadn't replied at all. 

There had been mere whispers that a new King had been crowned a few months ago, but if true or not, it didn't look like that one was more interested in friendly relations than the old one. 

If at least her students were there to fight by her side. Her friends, the former golden deer. If only he were here. If Claude would just be here, would fight at her side again, she would definitely...

Startled, she ducked down just in time as an arrow lightly grazed her hair. It began anew. Enemies ran towards her, she evaded their attacks an slaughtered them. Like a machine. Like the demon she was in some legends and yet with every slice of her sword and every ragged breath she took in, she wished for them to be here. 

She saw a lance appear out of nowhere and nearly piercing her, through strangely blurred eyes. Behind the lance wielding fiend a magician laughed mockingly at her. It was one of those who slither in the dark. Something dripped on her arm as she tried to avoid the spell directed at her, but this time she wasn't fast enough. The sheer force of the magic ripped her from her feet, and as she fell she realized that she was  crying.

All she had wanted to do was to fulfill his dream. Her dream. That one dream all of them shared, a peaceful world without any prejudices. Without fear and the constant threat of war.

But as she hit the ground hard and felt the strong magic power gathering above her, she knew that this would be the end. Here and now her dream would come to an end. And so would Claude's.

She closed her eyes, ready to accept the inevitable, praying that everyone would know that she had really tried. Had tried her best to unite Fódlan and bring happiness to her people as their new queen. But the pain she was expecting didn't come; instead she heard a buzzing noise. An arrow? At the same time a loud war cry sounded over the battlefield which seemed to be answered by many voices.

She opened her eyes and turned around, a slight sign of fear on her face. There in the fog were many figures to be seen. An army? Further reinforcement for the enemies side? They already weren't able to hold up much longer so why...!

She shook her head slightly to clear her mind. It didn't matter. Whether reinforcement for friend or foe, she was still alive while the magician before her had been stabbed in the chest by that arrow that had saved her. But where was the person she should thank?

“ Professor! Watch out, behind you!”, a voice suddenly sounded to her right. But like the mercenary she ones was, she instinctively responded to the call without thinking at all and managed do dodge the attack only to retaliate, splitting the attacker nearly in half. When she looked to her side she nearly lost her breath when she saw Hilda an Lysithea fighting a way towards her.

“ But how...-”, she asked before she finished another opponent, interrupting herself. Hilda laughed and looked around, satisfied. The reinforcements had already took care of a large amount of enemies who had given her dear Professor such a hard time. Then she grinned and turned to her former teacher.

“ Oh you know, we were already on our way anyways when we first heard that the capital was under attack, but it takes toooooo damn long to get here if you have to walk, you know? Even riding wasn't so much faster. But, luckily, someone picked us up on our way.” she ended, now grinning even wider and pointed to the sky where Byleth recognized a man with a bow in hand, a man she had last seen many month ago.

His wild mane, beard and clothes hadn't changed a bit in all this time. Smiling brightly, she watched as Nader led his wyvern riding army to fight their foes. 

They had come! The man from Almyra had come to her rescue, to help Fódlan in this dire time of need. Claude must have somehow managed to convince the King of Almyra to sent his troops to help at least. Maybe he had been able to convince him that peace was indeed a worthy goal and way easier to archive if he helped them now.

“Professor! I'm so glad that you're still alive!” She couldn't mistaken that loud voice for any others then Raphaels. She turned around and grinned when she saw her big friend, accompanied by Ignatz and Lorenz, who, according to his expression was not happy about the sheer volume of Raphaels voice at all. 

“ All of you, I am so...”, but Byleth fell silent, unsure of how to continue the sentence. She was so eerily touched that all of them were there. And when Leonie came in sight on horseback with Marianne behind her, who slipped to the ground next to her so she could start on healing her wounds, her dam broke a little. Just a tiny crack that allowed a few droplets to reach the surface. No one said anything to her but every single one of them looked at her with contend smiles on their faces. 

“ Hey Teach. Tears of joy, I hope?” Badum. Was that her... heart? The dam inside her tore further as a young tan man with deep emerald eyes landed in front of her, jumping of from the back of his beloved white wyvern, that typical superior grin plastered on his face. 

Before she could even think about it his name escaped her dry lips and she lunged forward, hugging him fiercely and crying for real, now that she could rest her head against his shoulder. 

Claude blushed slightly ( hoping that his tan skin would hide it well) and smiled softly. “ I'm happy to see you too. Looks like we made it just in time,eh?”, but his cheerfulness sounded forced. She took a step back to be able to look at him probability and felt her heart twist. 

“ I'm sorry, Claude,” she stammered out between slight sobs and pointed to his shoulder. “ I haven't noticed that you are hurt.” With a wink he brushed that off and turned his head to Nader who had been watching the scene with a big grin on his face. 

“ Take your soldiers and assist the army of Fódlan clean everything up, bring the wounded inside the palace, and give my thanks to your men. They have done an excellent job. I'll talk to them later when there's time, but for now my friends are my priority.” At the same time as he spoke, Claude shoot the old general a devastating look who was still wearing that broad grin.

“ But of course,  your Majesty . Your wish is my command,” Nader said, mumbling  kiddo  under his breath, whereupon Claude threw a small stone at him that missed its target and made Nader laugh even more. 

Arming himself, Claude crossed his hands behind his head to still his nerves a bit.

“ Wait a minute,” Leonie said rather loudly. “ Did he just call you Majesty?!” Grinning sheepishly, he turned around to them and looked them over. Only when his eyes finally found those of Byleth did he speak. 

“ Indeed. Before you stands the new reigning King of Almyra.”

~

That really haven't been the reaction he had imagined. He was known as an excellent tactician and rarely had to admit that one of his plans hadn't worked out as he planed, but this time he had to admit that it had turned into a disaster. 

Instead of seeing happy, grateful faces gathered around him, he sat alone at one of the tables in the dining hall of the Garreg Mach Monastery, poking at his food and sighting quietly. They had returned here only a few hours ago.

How could he have been so stupid to assume that the others would be absolutely happy about his  little  surprise?! Why hadn't he just send a messenger to inform the Kingdom of his coronation the day after he had taken over as the king two months ago?! Why had he imagined all of their reactions so wrong?

Sure, the other former members of the golden deer had been irritated, almost unbelieving. And Lorenz' facial expression had almost mad him laugh when his old comrade has looked as if a carpet had been just torn away from under his feet, but... The moment Byleths eyes had found his, her cold gaze boring in his eyes, he knew that it hadn't been a good idea at all.

With a monotonous voice, that didn't quite managed to hide her anger from his knowing ears, she had stepped forward to thank him for the aid. With all the distance that would be expected of a queen talking to a king. She had called him  your Majesty .

And when he had stretched out his hand, with a worried expression in his eyes do to the wounds that were still numerous on her body and a light comments on his lips to relax the situation, she had knocked his hand away, said goodbye and stormed away.

He had stood there, sad and speechless for once. He felt like a doused poodle. The comments from his friends after the scene had passed hadn't been helpful either.  “ How could he dare”, “ did you lost your mind or something?”  And Lorenz had been true to his noble self, talking about how he should behave as one. Sometimes in between Claude had smashed the arrow in his hand to pieces. 

He had really hoped that everyone would just be happy to have him as the new Almyran' King. This way it would be pretty easy to maintain peace between their country's. After all, he and Byleth, who was ruling Fódlan now, were friends. Comrades!

Another word to describe their relationship went through his mind, one that he didn't even dare to admit to himself. Because the feelings he had towards his former professor, they were, well... No. Nobody would ever approve. And judging by the look she gave him earlier on the battlefield, he had fallen down pretty hard down her popularity ladder anyway. 

Briefly, he thought about Byleths unbeating heart and couldn't help but wonder if she were even able to really love someone. To feel the way he felt. He laughed dryly and flinched when someone dropped on the seat right next to him. 

“ Whats so funny,  boy ?” That was all he needed to know who it was that sat beside him now.  Judith...

Arming himself, he threw her a carefree smile and a wink. “That's something you would love to know, wouldn't you old woman? But...”, and his smile faded. “ Would you please stop calling me a boy? I am a grown man you know? And even a King, so it is -”

But Judith laughter interrupted him. “ Even if you were the father of three children and the grandfather of ten grandchildren, as long as I live you will remain a little boy to me.”

Claude raised his hands in defeat and shook his head sourly. He shouldn't even try to talk Judith out of her “nickname” for him, it was a fight he couldn't win even if his life depended on it. 

“ So, what's the matter,  Claude ?” Judith asked and looked sharply at him. “ And don't you dare to “nothing” me, you know as well as I do that this would be a silly lie. And you know, it never did anyone good to lie to me,” she ended with a smirk.

Before Claude knew what he was doing he had told Judith everything that had happened a few hours ago, and started to regret doing so as soon as he finished. He already had to take enough criticism to last for this day and a few more to came, so he wasn't especially eager to have Judith's words adding to that pile. 

That's why his face showed sincere surprise when the woman known as the hero of Daphnel sighed softly only to smile warmly at him a moment later. 

“You know Claude, even a man like you, known as the master tactician, can misjudge and make mistakes. First and foremost, be it a tactician or a king, you are just a human being. And humans tend to misjudge things. You misjudged the reaction of your friends and, if you ask me, hurt your dear professor by leaving her in the dark for to long.” 

“The trust between you two had become a very important value for her and with your  little  surprise you kind of betrayed that trust. Really, you should go and do the only right thing that can be done in this situation. Apologize to her, open and honest. Just don't be a  boy  for once, but a  man  because after all, “ she paused with a tale telling grin, “ you  do like her very much, don't you  boy ?

That sat in silence for a little while. Claude was speechless and could just stare at his old friend. Was he so obvious?! As the heat he felt rose to his head , coloring his cheeks a dark red, he closed his eyes and chuckled out of embarrassment and amusement alike. 

“ Sharp as ever, eh? Well, I think you are right and that an apology is indeed in order. I guess if someone like me messes up the outcome is always rather unpleasant, right?”

Judith just nodded her head and smiled. After a moment they began a new conversation while they ate their meals. As Claude rose up, a fresh plan outlining how to apologize already in his head, Judith”s voice stopped him. “ Say Claude, is Nader here too by chance?”

Now it was Claudes turn to grin widely and he thought about teasing Judith a little, but he decided to let it drop. After all, she hadn't said anything about his feelings for Byleth so... fair was only fair. 

“ I fear not. He had to go back to Almyra as fast as possible. He is our best general after all. However, he seemed quite disappointment that he wasn't able to talk to you, not even for a moment. You seem to have left quite the impression on that old man.” 

He laughed lightly when he saw Judith blushing. “ You are more then welcome to visit me and my countrymen in Almyra, you know? I would say that Almyra is a land worth seeing and I am more then sure that Nader would be  very pleased to show you around.” 

Without waiting for a reaction, he went out of the dining hall and left Judith to sit at the table, unable to get that slightly embarrassed, but happy smile from her face.

~

He stood in front of the magnificent door which led to the former Archbishops chamber, and boy was he nervous. The sun had already made way for the moon and the stars. They twinkled and shone so brightly tonight. Although he could see them better in his homeland, he loved the view from garreg mach. It always remembered him of his time as the leader of the golden deer. Oh, how he missed those times sometimes.

After the talk with Judith he had searched for Byleth to apologize as soon as possible, but he hadn't succeed in finding her. Manuela had told him about ten minutes ago that the queen had already retired for the night after that draining battle but that she should still be awake. 

On his way through the monastery he had passed by a few nobles who had either ignored him completely or threw him a skeptical look. He cared very little for them, but he just couldn't help to wonder why so many of these bootlickers where here. 

According to his information it was not unusual for Byleth to travel between Garreg Mach and Derdriu, as her attention was needed at both locations and yet it seemed strange to him to have so many nobles present here, especially after they had just won a fight only a few hours ago.

He had stopped on his way to Byleth when he passed a door and heard Seteth's voice through the slightly ajar door. A quick peek inside had told him that an old man was his conversation partner. 

“ As I have already told you this decision lies with her Majesty alone. Of course I do understand that you and your men would appreciate such an agreement, but... -”  
Yawning, Claude turned away and resumed his walk to Byleth. Some dumb political talking would certainly not stop him from seeing Byleth right now. He even had brought flowers with him! Freshly plucked from the greenhouse, but he wasn't sure whether this would speak for or against him. It was the thought that counts, right?!

Lost in his thoughts he grabbed at his right shoulder which had been hurting again since the last fight and tried to ignore the tingling feeling in his left arm as good as he could. He would just go to Manuela in the morning to let her check him up.

But everything just slipped his mind the moment he quietly opened the door to Byleth's bedchamber, without knocking as usual, and his ears were greeted by a mans voice. He stood there, frozen on the spot, an listened. 

“- and therefore I allow myself to ask for your hand in marriage. I can promise you a pleasant life in luxury while I shall take care of Fódlan as its king.”

Byleth opened her mouth to give that man a reply, but she did not get an chance to speak. The man smiled darkly at her. “ Please do consider what kind of consequences a rejection could have for you, your  Majesty . We both know that you sent most of your valuable knights to all parts of Fódlan to help rebuild all the destroyed villages and towns, it would be pretty easy to dethrone you. You must know by now that I do have the power to do so and you should know, my dear  lady , that I will not shy away from using it to it's fullest. After all, my father can't say  no to any wish of mine.” 

The man reached for Byleth's hand and kissed it with a smug expression on his ugly face while Byleth looked almost hopelessly at him. Her expression changed into one of determination and she opened her mouth again. 

But her proposer pulled her to him with surprising strength and made it abundantly clear that he wouldn't mind to use violence to get what he wanted.

It was like a fuse had just blown in his head as Claude pushed the door open so hard that it slammed in the wall. With a rage he never felt before in his whole life he approached this greasy guy. He didn't give a shit about who that man was. He wouldn't care even if he were a god. 

~

When he could think clearly again he blinked. Seteth stood in the room and combed his hands through his hair, debating about all the work this incident would mean for him again and what steps they should take to soften the damage. 

Byleth sat silently on her bed with her head in her hands. 

Claude blinked again. What had he done? Why had he lost his composure like that? Had lost his control? He rubbed his hand and wiped the blood off on his cape. He remembered that he had punched that man square in the face sending him bleeding to the floor. 

He knew that he thought that he was completely in the rights at that moment, and he still believed that. For who could say what else that worthless piece of filth would have tried? 

But the more mature side of his brain knew that it was a very stupid action. It had been a proposal, albeit with a threat and an immoral behavior, but... Byleth would have been more then strong enough to defend herself if the need had been there, damn it! It wasn't like he had witnessed someone trying to really hurt his Teach. The behavior of that noble had been anything but compliant with the rules but still...

“Claude...”, it came from the bed and his head shoot up. From the corner of his eyes he saw Seteth hurriedly leaving the room and closing the door quietly behind him. 

“ What in Sothis name has gotten over you?! I expect an explanation. And I hope it is a good one.” She spoke calmly, nearly as stoic as she used to be all this years ago. And yet he felt the anger she tried to suppress pulsating from her form in thick waves. He swallowed and moistened his suddenly pretty dry lips. 

How should he explain himself? His usually sharp brain and his silver tongue were not working, as if they had been frozen. He just did not know what had happened, or at least,  why it had happened. So he said exactly that, mentioned the proposal and the mans wrongdoing, and apologized to her as honest as he could. Because what else could he do? The damage had already be done so it would be fruitless to try and change anything. 

“ Claude, I'm only saying this once, so listen carefully. It is  none of your business what happens to me. It doesn't matter what  I do  with whomever. And more then anything else, it is  none of your business if or who I decide to marry. Since my coronation, more that twenty men proposed to me, just so you know. Even if this one was the cheekiest one so far. And you should know that I would have defended myself if there had been a reason for it! “

He hissed and breathed out. What?! More than twenty men? And why was she saying that it wasn't his business? The were friend's, damn it! So of course he would care, even if it wasn't for his own feeling towards her... 

“Not that I would ever care to get involved with a man, especially not for such flimsy and sick reasons, but even If I did it wouldn't be your concern! We are  comrades at best, if even that. It is not as if we are  close or something that would put you in a position to have a say in my life and my decisions!” 

“So don't you ever dare to create such a scene again. I can only hope that Seteth will be able to settle everything peacefully. Really, how stupid was that? Playing the hero like a stupid  little boy who wants to protect his  girl as if he was jealous that is just-” her last words were nearly screamed at him. 

“ I am... sorry... “, he muttered silently. So quiet that he wasn't even sure if she had heard him. To his horror he felt his eyes burn and his heart contracting before it felt like breaking.  Stupid little boy ,  not your business and especially  comrades at best, if even that . 

And here he had thought of them as best friends, even more if his feelings counts for everything but that... that hurt. So much. Her words echoed in his mind, mocking him and stinging more than an arrow ever could. 

He dropped the bouquet he was still holding in the numb fingers of his left hand and ran. He run as fast as he could and fled. Not only from her bedchambers but also from the monastery. From Fódlan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :)
> 
> As you have noticed I decided to take another perceptive on the whole " Claude comes back and safe the day, everyone is happy" stuff, and I really hope that you liked it. I would be happy to have some feedback as usual :)
> 
> Next up will be the last chapter that plays in Fódlan, before I take it to Almyra.

**Author's Note:**

> Next up will be Claudes triumphant return to Fódlan and his reason to leave again.


End file.
